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Morgantown ***** '55 gasser build

42K views 260 replies 27 participants last post by  Unkie 
#1 ·
Excited to have gotten this car in mid April of this year. A lot to do , but it's all there and a much better starting point than some of our past projects have been!
Basic plan is to first turn this 4 door into a 2 door. Then go gasser style: straight axel, 4 speed, BBC 427, skinny fronts, bigger backs. We've debated back & forth on cutting the rear qtrs. out or not & still can't really agree on wheels. Basic old school race car interior with no carpet, stock dash, good/safe cage & keep/try to not hurt the headliner that's there (with all the grinding, sparks & welding... well we'll see).
First order of business is find a set of 2 door, doors. Put the word out on this & a friend hooked us up with a guy, had never met & only15 miles away, that has ALOT of tri-five parts & cars ... bought doors & guts (and he also had a '59 truck straight axle we got)! Another friend went to Goodguys show & came across a set of 2 door inside window garnish at the swap meet & brought it back ... so thankful to have buddies that look out for us!
Since an Arizona car, there is very little rust ... not counting the floor. Windows down & wet carpet is no good, no matter the state. However, a set of pans came with it!
So progress so far is some cleaning & disassembly to get familiar with the car, B pillars cut out, all that rusty floor pan out, replaced body bushing.
This will be a slow build for a while ... anybody looking for a wicked pro street Chevelle to buy ... more to come :bowtieb:
 
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#4 · (Edited)
Excited to have gotten this car in mid April of this year. A lot to do , but it's all there and a much better starting point than some of our past projects have been!
Basic plan is to first turn this 4 door into a 2 door. Then go gasser style: straight axel, 4 speed, BBC 427, skinny fronts, bigger backs. We've debated back & forth on cutting the rear qtrs. out or not & still can't really agree on wheels. Basic old school race car interior with no carpet, stock dash, good/safe cage & keep/try to not hurt the headliner that's there (with all the grinding, sparks & welding... well we'll see).
First order of business is find a set of 2 door, doors. Put the word out on this & a friend hooked us up with a guy, had never met & only15 miles away, that has ALOT of tri-five parts & cars ... bought doors & guts (and he also had a '59 truck straight axle we got)! Another friend went to Goodguys show & came across a set of 2 door inside window garnish at the swap meet & brought it back ... so thankful to have buddies that look out for us!
Since an Arizona car, there is very little rust ... not counting the floor. Windows down & wet carpet is no good, no matter the state. However, a set of pans came with it!
So progress so far is some cleaning & disassembly to get familiar with the car, B pillars cut out, all that rusty floor pan out, replaced body bushing.
This will be a slow build for a while

Just thinking , some members on here don't mind having a four door and
in fact even prefer one I think , others wouldn't be seen in a four door and
I have a friend that says four doors should be illegal , I have all sorts of friends ,
Ha !! So whether it's worth all the work to make a four into a
two I guess you are going to find out , I personally am looking forward to
a full running pictorial of the project and how or if your attitude toward
the effort progresses ( I've heard it said it's easy , but I doubt it : )
And when the job is done and you stand back and see that you have done
something very special how cool it will be , and when inevitably someone
asks would you do it again you will say " HELL NO " !!!
 

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#7 ·
Sorry for the no pics yesterday ... I'm usually a lot better about that, but got tied up & just now getting back here.

Just thinking , some members on here don't mind having a four door and in fact even prefer one I think , others wouldn't be seen in a four door and I have a friend that says four doors should be illegal , I have all sorts of friends , Ha !! So whether it's worth all the work to make a four into a two I guess you are going to find out , I personally am looking forward to a full running pictorial of the project and how or if your attitude toward the effort progresses ( I've heard it said it's easy , but I doubt it : ) And when the job is done and you stand back and see that you have done
something very special how cool it will be , and when inevitably someone
asks would you do it again you will say " HELL NO " !!!
Nothing against 4 doors here ... they are awesome, for a cruiser. Just tend to prefer 2 doors for the more "race car" realm things. And have never done a conversion like this before, so new challenges keep it interesting!
 

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#6 ·
Oops , you outed yourself Joe !!! You know we like/love pictures , I don't
reckon there is a more work involved tri-five project than a conversion !!
Well , folks will need to know now , at least I would like to : ) Even just
a few pictures would be appreciated ~~~~
 
#13 ·
Yes indeed. After looking for a "decent" 2 door sedan it didn't take long to figure out a 4 door conversion was the way to go. You can find total rust buckets for $7,000 or ones in good shape for $20,000. Seems there is not much in between.
 
#10 · (Edited)
I'm not real good at this computer stuff ,not much good stuff to show yet. Bumper Automotive exterior Auto part Rust Vehicle
this is the four door front door jam in yellow and the two door jam in blue.It is required to use the four door one with the four door B pillar. Just enough difference that the door won't latch or seal correctly . If you are lucky enough to have a two door B pillar ,your in business.

Vehicle Car Automotive exterior Hardtop


Land vehicle Vehicle Car Classic car Sedan


Motor vehicle Vehicle Car Automotive exterior Classic
Just installing trim with duct tape to make sure it will fit Ok. nightmares about getting body work done and trim is toooo long or short

Motor vehicle Vehicle Car Automotive exterior Bumper
About ready for bondo ,a little more alignment and spacing on the jams.
 
#17 ·
My problem is years ago I had a full equipted shop with all the tools. About three years ago I had to start all over ,house garage ,personal stuff .I will never have all the stuff I need so that makes it very hard. I have half of a 24 x 24 garage ,one 20 amp electrical circuit ,I have a small 110 welder ,no torch ,no sheet metal tools just a sawsall ,Cordless drill and Harbor freight grinders.
Don't get me wrong I'm not complaining but sometimes the simplest chore consumes most of an afternoon.
As far as the 4dr thing I realized I could not buy a decent two door in my price range. Probably could not replace floorboards or 1/4 s.I bought this 4 dr that ran and drove with almost no rust . The two door conversion without fighting rust seemed a better deal to me than a rusted hulk two door. I was able to barter and trade for a lot of things , original hubcaps and wheel and tires traded for two rough doors. Factory Jack traded for two door side trim.I will sell or trade the 283/glide later and upgrade the drivetrain. Mowed a guys yard twice while he was on vacation in exchange for a Exploder 8.8 rear end. Every step is closer to the end goal.
Bodywork is not my strong suit but it gets done ,just takes a lot longer.
 
#18 ·
Bartering makes the world go around. I am excited about this build because I will be removing more from this car than I will be adding. Building one period correct is a LOT less expensive than restoring one. Most folks nowadays pass up looking at a car with a $15,000 paint job to go look at one with patina. I know I do.
 
#20 ·
Busy summer already, so not making leaps of progress. But did get a little time for sandblasting/priming of some crusty spots. Also got the C pillars cut out & 2-door, door on hinges so could started mocking things up.
 

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#24 ·
It's a cool build! Lots of measuring ahead.

What I did on mine was align the 2-door door then put the b-pillar where it needs to be for gaps. I used both inner and outer skins on the donor b-pillars because I wanted the rear glass to be able to roll down. That also meant that I had to cut out the old rear door pillar where the inner fenderewell is. There is a dimple in the rear well that allows the rear glass to roll all the way down. Also needed the inner for the upper window channel at the rear of the opening.

Maybe I should get back to work on mine... Been sitting too long.

Keep it up! Love the enthusiasm...

:congrats:
 
#26 ·
I have been pondering the quarter glass situation. I am going to go with the fixed rear glass. I will do a home made rear seat delete so I won't have any need for quarter glass to roll up and down. Lots of work to make that happen in a 4 door to 2 door conversion.
 
#25 ·
We have had my 10 year old nephew visiting us from Texas since the first of June. We have been dirt bike riding{every evening}, boating,going to the movies,fishing,and going to the arcade non stop. He is getting to do a lot of things he normally doesn't get to do. It is well worth the time to have him here as his father{my brother} passed away a year ago at age 46. He has 2 older sisters and really no males to hang with at home. It has really been good for all of us to have this time together. We take him home this coming Sunday and I'm sure he will come back to visit each summer until he discovers girls. Anyhow, I will be hitting the Gasser pretty hard in the next few weeks. Next step will be the front end cut off and fabbing up frame rails. Stay tuned.
 
#28 ·
We have had my 10 year old nephew visiting us from Texas since the first of June. We have been dirt bike riding{every evening}, boating,going to the movies,fishing,and going to the arcade non stop. He is getting to do a lot of things he normally doesn't get to do. It is well worth the time to have him here as his father{my brother} passed away a year ago at age 46. He has 2 older sisters and really no males to hang with at home. It has really been good for all of us to have this time together. We take him home this coming Sunday and I'm sure he will come back to visit each summer until he discovers girls. Anyhow, I will be hitting the Gasser pretty hard in the next few weeks. Next step will be the front end cut off and fabbing up frame rails. Stay tuned.
Work on the car a little while he is there. Let him help and observe. He may just get interested in cars also.
Terry
 
#29 ·
He is mostly just observing and asking a LOT of questions. I can work on it for just short periods of time before we are taking off and doing "fun" stuff. He is about as interested in it as most 10 year olds. His Dad was into guitars so he wanted to make a guitar out of sheet metal to hang on his wall at home. We cut out a miniature version of his Dad's favorite guitar and painting it to match as we speak.
 
#33 ·
Outstanding Capt. Morgan !! It's been along time since that level of
accomplishment has been observed around my place !!!
But there was a time : ) Carry on then and keep those progress
pictures coming in , I know we all sure appreciate them and sure
do respect you for your enthusiasm bygolly !!!! Great thread !!!!
 
#35 ·
Great progress, I like it.......cheers to a successful chop!:shakehands:


Although your body is still on frame ya at might want to blow mass amounts of air through frame from rear to front.....I tilted mine on end and shook out at least ten generations of rodent debris -

The delray gave up 65 lbs of red soil from Oklahoma a plastic comb followed by a severely rotted pushrod and a set of tweezers? My driveway looked like MARS!

Good luck and remember keep a chair close , when ya get frustrated it's better to rest a few songs the get back at it. let me know if ya need anything:shakehands:
 
#36 ·
Great progress, I like it.......cheers to a successful chop!:shakehands:


Although your body is still on frame ya at might want to blow mass amounts of air through frame from rear to front.....I tilted mine on end and shook out at least ten generations of rodent debris -
My old Austin gave up misc. debris, but when sweeping it up I thought I saw money! Dug out two Canadian pennies that were both the same year as the car! Guessing when it was newly imported to Canada someone hid them inside the front sheet metal, as it was while disassembling that area they appeared. They're both mounted in strategic places on the dashboard switches now.
 
#39 ·
New front frame rails fabbed & installed!
The theme for the weekend was "use what you got" ... rails came from bracing/frame used to ship heavy equipment pieces in & front tube came from driveshaft, out of who knows what, laying in corner of shop.
 

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#43 ·
Thanks for the comments! I've done tons of Gasser research on the web and I have seen your comments on this and other sites.You are knowledgeable in the hands on "been there,done that" school. Thanks for all the help/advice you have given.
 
#44 ·
Been collecting parts ... used from friends, Craigslist finds and some new stuff (when the FedEx decides to deliver way out here).
Std bore block for the 427, Weiand intake, magneto ignition. Clutch stuff.
9" Ford rearend out from under a buddy's parts truck, mocked up for fitment & to move rear springs under rails.
Straight axle disassembled for king pin rebuild, pilots drilled for lightening holes & front springs ready to go be rebuilt & re-arched.
 

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